Pin trading at the parks?

[HPSF1]

Just wondering if cast members and shops are pin trading or is that on hold because of COVID? I imagine it is on hold but was hoping someone who has been recently could share.

 

[theFoof]

They are still doing the pin trading boards, from what I understand pins you trade in are kept separate and they sanitize those before redistributing.

 

[only hope]

Pin trading is only in a handful of locations now. Procedure listed above. I’ve found pins in the Space Mountain gift shop, outside the main shop and in Africa across from Tamu at AK, outside the Pin Trading store at Epcot, and the main store on the right at HS but only at random times.

 

[DancinMama]

On Sunday 9-20 we were told at the Pin store in Disney Springs that there is no pin trading right now. Then we ended up seeing a few special carts around the parks with pin trading boards. We didn’t see many but at least there were some.

 

[HPSF1]

Thanks for the info! glad to know its still happening in a few places

 

[Herding_Cats]

When we were there in August the resort shops all had pin boards. Most of them have stickers with numbers by each pin and you can tell the CM which pin you would like by number (another board was broken up into colored squares) and you put the pin you were trading into a bowl so they could wipe it down before putting it on the board. WAY fewer places to trade as stated above, but it's still there.

 

[TandDandE]

Example: The pin board in Dino Institute shop.

 

[wilkydelts]

Does anyone have the locations or a link to where pin trading is offered in each park? My children finally get to do it but I do not want to wander around looking for locations since COVID stopped it from being everywhere.

 

[philharmagic fan]

A cast member told me there's a board in a shop in each "Land" at Magic Kingdom. The Fantasyland one is in the shop at the Philharmagic exit; sorry, I don't know where the others are.

 

[TandDandE]

Does anyone have the locations or a link to where pin trading is offered in each park?

My girls also love pin trading. The lack of it during our trip last weekend lessened "the magic" a bit, but we got some trading in each day.

Here's what we found:

• For Epcot, there was a medium-sized pin board outside of this shop by the entrance.
• For MK, there was a really small pin board at Merchant of Venus.

We traded via the Skyliner too:

• CBR gift shop had a big pin board that was out for most of the day (maybe 9a to 6p) - I recommend that one - we traded, had lunch and roamed around - then traded again
• The folks at the Riviera gift shop said their board was out for only a couple hours a day; we were there a couple times and didn't see it.
• POP gift shop had a small pin board behind a register and we traded there a couple times.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyDetective]

I’m a pin trader and totally didn’t take into account pin trading and the transmission of the virus. Glad it’s still availabl, I’ll just pour hand sanitizer all over them, lol!

 

[HiStitch626]

Bumping this for more recent experiences.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Also, has anyone who has been there noticed a decrease in fakes/scrappers now that trading is more centralized?

 

[100AcreWood]

I was curious about this as well. That's a big part of our experience for sure.

 

[Goldilocks07]

Me too we LOVE LOVE LOVE pin trading, it's a huge part of our experience. We go in 16 days (woo hoo!). I guess we will just ask and ask everywhere we go.

Anyone know if all the resorts trade? We usually go right up to the main check in desks at off times, and ask to trade there- they usually have huge books of pins. And the gift shops have a pin board. I'm hoping something exists. We are staying at Bay Lake Tower and the Contemporary has awesome pins to trade (usually).

 

[OB1]

It is only at shops or specific areas. I had the best luck at AK.

AK - boards at 1) the stroller area 2) just outside Windtraders shop, Pandora, 3) Africa as you start on the walkway to Asia 4) outside the shop at Expedition Everest, and I think one near Dinoland but I can not remember
EPCOT - only 1, but a good one at the photoshop to the right side of Spaceship Earth
DHS - At the front in the photo area. A very large board. This is just after entering on your left side
MK - various shops. These were all small, maybe 12 pins. Morimoto, Sir Mickey;s, Splash Mtn.

 

[Aela]

We are on our way home right now... sitting at the airport. My daughter (12) is really into pin trading. She was super disappointed in Epcot and Magic Kingdom.

Epcot has one board. Our first Epcot day was Christmas Day and the board was out all day. She checked it a few times during the day and both her and I did our two trades. Today we also went and we were told that the board only comes out at 3p-4p each day, and only for that one hour. Our bus left for the airport at 4:25, so we could have done the 3pm board... but I told her there was no way we would line up for a one hour packed pin trade window. It was a horrible idea, and not well planned out. I’m not sure what they were thinking. Creating an unnecessary line felt like a bad idea.

That said. epcot was stupidly overpacked today, so we left and went to BC/YC/CB/RR and did some trades.

AoA didn’t have a board, we didn’t check Pop.

Polynesian has two boards, and Contemporary has one. None at GF.

No boards at Coronado Springs.

Also agree that AK was probably the best, then DHS. MK had a lot of boards, but the pins were not refilled. We visited one or two that had only 3 pins on it.

here is the DHS map, and the MK list. MK doesn’t list splash because I took the photo there.

 

[Goldilocks07]

We are on our way home right now... sitting at the airport. My daughter (12) is really into pin trading. She was super disappointed in Epcot and Magic Kingdom.

Epcot has one board. Our first Epcot day was Christmas Day and the board was out all day. She checked it a few times during the day and both her and I did our two trades. Today we also went and we were told that the board only comes out at 3p-4p each day, and only for that one hour. Our bus left for the airport at 4:25, so we could have done the 3pm board... but I told her there was no way we would line up for a one hour packed pin trade window. It was a horrible idea, and not well planned out. I’m not sure what they were thinking. Creating an unnecessary line felt like a bad idea.

That said. epcot was stupidly overpacked today, so we left and went to BC/YC/CB/RR and did some trades.

AoA didn’t have a board, we didn’t check Pop.

Polynesian has two boards, and Contemporary has one. None at GF.

No boards at Coronado Springs.

Also agree that AK was probably the best, then DHS. MK had a lot of boards, but the pins were not refilled. We visited one or two that had only 3 pins on it.

here is the DHS map, and the MK list. MK doesn’t list splash because I took the photo there.

Wow super helpful. THANK YOU.

I'm disappointed GF doesn't have any trading. We have a dinner there after AK and were hoping to explore the property with pin trading. Oh well.

 

[Aela]

Wow super helpful. THANK YOU.

I'm disappointed GF doesn't have any trading. We have a dinner there after AK and were hoping to explore the property with pin trading. Oh well.

Walk to Poly, and trade there. Then hit the monorail and trade at Contemporary.

 

[mamamelody2]

I was glad there was at least some pin trading last month. I did the best at the Photopass shop just inside HS on the left. Large board with MANY pins. Also, the one in AK by the popcorn cart in Africa was really good. The Epcot one we did a few times but it was hit or miss. We saw the attendant get replaced once, and the one who had been there had not been replenishing pins, but when the new lady came in, she put tons of new pins out. So it can be hit or miss.

There was a small board behind the register at the POP gift shop. None at the check-in desk.

I did say to my husband that in some ways it was freeing not to have to eyeball every CM to see if they had pins! LOL!!